CSA Pick Up

On Thursday I picked up my CSA share.  Frankly, I’m a little intimidated.  Really, it’s almost like a hobby when you’re getting started, and I haven’t done it in a while (as I explained here).    I’ve eaten five or six different kinds of green vegetables today alone. Since the pick up, I’ve made two different brand-new recipes, neither of which were what I’d call a success.  Tonight for dinner I went with the old standby, sauteed with olive oil & garlic & salt.  That hardly ever sucks.  Of course, by the time dinner rolled around I was feeling fussy with all of that healthy fiber, so I threw in some kalamata olives and sundried tomatoes until I considered it yummy.  I think I just have to pace myself better with next week’s pick up.

Meanwhile, stopping by the farmers’ market was informative.  First, the folks from Roots & Wisdom were there talking up their programs.  I thought that you might be interested in a couple of them.

They’re doing  Roots, Shoots, Flowers and Fruits from 7/12 to 8/9, Monday to Friday, 9 to 11:45 am.  Cost is $25 a week with limited need-based scholarships, but dude, do you see that that’s a bargain.  It’s for kids 6-11.

They’ll also have a farm stand open on Tuesday afternoons (rain or shine) from 3:30-6:15 pm at the corner of Fehr Avenue & Central Park Road.  You can buy stuff, but you’re also free to tour the garden.  This sounds like a lovely little after-nap outing, and/or a great way to kill some time on the days that you’re nutty waiting for another adult to come home and be patient with your young child(ren).  What, that never happens to you?

Meanwhile, when I popped over to the Schenectady Cornell Cooperative Extension website to link you up to Roots & Wisdom, I also noticed that Schenectady children from 5-11 can also help do some gardening as part of the Edible Playground Crew.  It’s a free program.

Someone from the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy was hawking Enjoy Our Preserves brochures, and I thought that some of you might, in fact, enjoy their preserves.  I’ll add the link and all, but in case you’re so At One With Nature that you can consider hiking in this weather, click the link above for some new spots.  Anybody visited some of these and want to recommend favorites for families?

And if this post has made you crave a little Famers’ Market action and you don’t know where to go, remember that I made a list of local Farmers’ Markets a while back.

Meanwhile, anyone doing a bit of gardening and feeling overwhelmed by produce already?  We are currently wading in basil (remember back when we first got some?), and when my CSA farmer handed me a bunch I tried to say no, but she just looked so disappointed, I was like, Okay, I’ll make more pesto to freeze, I guess.  Thank you.   Come to think of it, I hope that she didn’t think that I was un-gracious.  I should have been all, “Yay!  Beautiful greens!” and instead it was more like: “Jeepers!  It’s way too hot to cook this stuff!”  I will try to be better next time.  Of course, it’s probably too late and now she thinks that I’m some pain-in-the-ass that she has to tolerate for the check.   But, I’m off track.  I meant to say that if you, too, are overwhelmed by your garden’s bounty, you should know about the Squash Hunger program.  You can drop off your fresh produce and it will get to folks who could really use some fresh produce, unlike your next-door neighbors who are really just being polite when you hand over 3 or 4 zucchini.   I’m pretty sure that there are more drop-off points than are currently listed on the website, so it’s worth it to check in with them.

Am I the only one who can’t wait for a monster rainstorm?   Bring it on!